


Mirror Mirror

by cubedcoffeecake



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: And neither dies, Based on a Disney prompt somehow, By the way I suck at romance, F/M, I promise Loki and Jane get together over the course of the fic, Lots of inspiration from Warehouse 13, Oh and it was actually beta'd, One Shot, So I'm really impressed with my self-control, So it can't possibly be that bad, This is crack without any crack actually involved, Thor is only mentioned, You've been warned, haha as if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-07-24 01:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7488483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cubedcoffeecake/pseuds/cubedcoffeecake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki and Jane are locked in a warehouse of magical objects. Alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror Mirror

"No. Uh uh. No way. This isn't happening. I refuse to accept that this is actually happening." Jane groaned. "This is _not_ actually happening. This is really, truly not happening."

"Are you done?"

"No."

He sighed heavily, rolled his eyes, and went back to staring at the wall and ignoring her, which was fine with Jane. Being trapped in a large warehouse with Loki and hundreds of random magical objects would have been far better if he spent the entire time ignoring her, and she definitely wasn't ready to leave the comfort of denial.

"This can't actually be happening. Not happening. Not happening. Not happening..."

"You are a more intelligent human than this."

"Am not."

"Are you doing this to me on purpose?"

"I would never willingly get locked in a warehouse with you for an indeterminable amount of time!"

"There. You said it. Now you can stop repeating, 'not happening' over and over."

"...I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual, I assure you. Now, since we are locked up together for an indeterminable amount of time, why don't we try to have a civil conversation?"

"...What?"

"Do you not think me possible of such a feat?"

"You, being civil? No, I don't think you're capable."

"Neither do I. But there is no harm in trying."

"Anything involving you can end in harm."

"Why thank you for such a flattering compliment. Now come: Do have a seat," Loki said, sliding down the wall to a sitting position on the floor. Jane stared at him, seemingly uncomprehending, and he rolled his eyes again with yet another dramatic sigh as he patted the floor next to him. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously and she deliberately walked to the side of the aisle opposite of Loki and sat down, staring at him, still suspicious. And slightly uncomfortable. Definitely uncomfortable. Unlike her, his legs were extended out toward her lazily, and far enough apart for her to be uncomfortable.

"So: I heard you broke up with my not-brother, but no one seemed to know any details," Loki said with a wicked smirk. "Care to share?"

Jane's eyes flashed and her discomfort was forgotten in her anger. "That is none of your business!"

"Oh? I thought Thor and I were still considered ‘brothers’ by you mortals. And really, who deserves to know more than your ex's family?"

At a loss of words (because that actually made _sense_ ), Jane quickly—too quickly—suggested, "You know, we're in a top-secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility surrounded by who-knows-what. Wanna look around?"

Loki raised his eyebrows. From the previous times he had met her, he would have expected Jane Foster of all people to be quite opposed to sneaking around S.H.I.E.L.D., and he said so. "Wouldn't that be frowned upon by your beloved organization?" he asked.

"I have no love for S.H.I.E.L.D. I hate them, actually. If you think that snooping around would piss them off, I'm willing to do it—even if I have to do it with _you_."

Stunned. He was stunned. "And you were _Thor's_ lover?"

"One of the reasons I broke up with him." Then she cursed as his incredulous look turned to smug glee. She had been dodging this very subject. "Oh, shut it. You going to join me or not?"

He shook his head. "I am merely surprised I had misjudged you so."

"Hormones, Loki. Women never behave sanely around someone like Thor." She cursed him again. "How are you so good at this?"

Smirking, he ignored her second question. "Oh, so good-looking men make you act abnormally?"

She paused. "Well, not necessarily _all_ good-looking men. Just—the ones like Thor. Kindest guy you'll ever meet, big muscles—no, huge muscles," Loki snickered, "golden boy appearance. That kind of good-looking. The kind that makes you feel self-conscious just by him walking in the room." More to herself, she added, "Another reason I broke up with him."

"Because you couldn't compare?"

Glaring, she ordered, "Shut up."

"Truth hurts, doesn't it?"

"I said _shut up_."

He smirked—again. "Feisty."

"I _said_ —"

"If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one."

Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Don't you _dare_ compare yourself to me. We are _nothing_ alike."

"Oh really?" he asked, deciding he could definitely have some fun with this. "I believe quite the opposite is true. Though you may not be aware, I was one of Asgard's most promising scholars. Most everything I ever did was dismissed, however, because of my reputation with mischief and the fact that most of my work centered around magic, which was considered ludicrous for a man to study and more so to use. I ended up following along in Thor's shadow for millennia, because no one would accept me. Why, given a few thousand more years of persecution and a source of ultimate power, I have little doubt that you, Jane Foster, would not have done exactly what I did."

Jane was shocked into silence. Mostly because, as much as she wanted to deny it... He could be right.

Loki considered her pause to be justification to continue. "It really isn't all that astonishing Thor clung to you, or you to him. I clung to my place as his shadow for a very long time, and he insists still that I am his brother, because of his abounding _sentiment_. Really, I'm impressed that you managed to leave him. And that he let you. Clearly he values you above me, since he won't seem to give _me_ that right."

Horrified by what sounded like truth in his statements, Jane clung to her one remaining rebuttal. "You're a liar. Why should I believe that you're not just twisting your words?"

Pleased, his smirk broadened. "Because, dear Jane, I never lie when it is concerning Thor. I have no need. The oaf gives me plenty of opportunity to paint him in a poor light without even having to lie or twist my words." After another minute of silence, he finished, "You're a smart woman, Jane Foster. Especially for a mortal. You know I am not lying."

They both remained silent for several minutes after that. Eventually, Jane abruptly stood up, and announced, "I'm gonna go explore and screw with S.H.I.E.L.D. You can come if you want, but I'd prefer you not." And with that, she walked off purposefully down one of the many identical corridors.

He blinked several times, before standing up and following her. Thanks to his long legs, he quickly caught up to her. They continued to walk down a good twenty corridors before he gasped like he'd been struck. Turning around in surprise, Jane froze in shock when she saw him crumpled on the floor, blood running out his mouth and eyes closed.

At first she told herself that it was just an illusion... But when she reached down and touched the small pool of blood building on the floor, the red liquid coated her fingers. She gasped. "Loki? Loki! Loki, wake up!" she exclaimed.

Then, she noticed something. She stood up and waved her hand through it several times... and sure enough, there was a red, electric-y feedback-like barrier that Loki seemed to have hit, while Jane just went through it. Jane quickly looked to the shelves to her left and right, and saw two identical, strange looking metal contraptions, one on each side.

"Maybe...?" she thought, wondering if the things were causing the barrier. She walked over to one and looked for an on/off button. Not seeing one, she reached out to touch it... and received a very painful electric shock that caused her to jump back. "What in the world...?" She then recalled something she had seen on a website while investigating S.H.I.E.L.D. after they took her stuff. It had talked about how S.H.I.E.L.D. would take rare, magical, and often dangerous objects and hide them away in unknown locations.

Of course. Just her luck. No doubt this was some scientifically impossible thingamabob that kept people with magic from passing while letting normal people through. Useful, but quite annoying right now. She could just leave him... But that would be rude. And anyway, it had shocked her. It deserved it.

So, she pulled back her hand, and palm-heeled the thing as hard as she could. It slammed backward into a metal crate and, miraculously, broke into a million pieces. Satisfied with her work—and attempting to ignore her poor throbbing hand—, Jane walked back over to Loki had kicked him in the head. He was Asgardian—he'd live. And he instantly sat straight up anyhow, so she deemed it a successful way to wake up unconscious Asgardians.

"Wha—" Loki looked up at her, eyes wide, and blinked several times before donning his normal expression and demanding with a snarl, "What did you _do_ , woman?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "I saved your life, that's what. Though I can't imagine why." Much to Jane's amusement, Loki actually looked confused. He glanced around, eyes settling on the smashed pieces of the magic-barrier-thingy and then on its intact twin, and then back on Jane, who was now looking sadly at her injured hand.

"You smashed a magical object with your hand."

"Uh huh."

"...Here." Jane glanced up as he stood, and crossed the distance between them. He gently took her hand, and closed his eyes, his expression changing to an amusingly concentrated one as green light enveloped her hand. When it faded away and he let go, stepping back and opening his eyes, her hand was healed.

Her mouth fell open. "Uhhh... Thanks?"

Loki snickered at her. "You are welcome. Now do come along; and try not to break any more of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s property. As much as I will enjoy their reactions, I am sure, I will not heal you again." As he said this, he healed himself, cast one more uneasy glance at the anti-magic technology, and began to walk on.

Quickly, Jane caught up to him, and though she had to nearly run to keep up with his long strides, they walked on together for a while. Until she caught sight of an unboxed telescope.

Without thinking, Jane rushed over to it and picked it up. She ignored Loki's protesting and set it down on the ground, removing the cap and looking through the lens. She should have seen iron support beams... but instead, she saw a beautiful galaxy. She gasped. "That's—this—" She looked up at Loki, who was frowning at her in disapproval. "Will you help me steal this?"

That threw him off. " _What_?"

"Look!" She stepped aside, gesturing for him to take a look through the lens. Reluctantly, he did so, and gasped himself. Though probably not quite as much as Jane, Loki loved the stars too. She smiled widely. "Now will you help me?"

He stepped back and seemed to consider for a moment before stating, "If you let me use it." Unperturbed by the thought of _Loki_ randomly appearing in her trailer to use a telescope, she nodded enthusiastically. It was a freakin' magic telescope! How could she deny him?

Wordlessly, he took the cap from her and put it back over the lens, picking up the telescope and walking off. She followed.

The next random object they stopped for was what seemed to be a picture, covered in a long black drape. Loki set down the telescope and pulled off the drape, while Jane wandered off a little, reading the labels on the metal crates as she walked by them.

A bright light flashed behind her, and she whipped around to see a tall mirror with the drape that had been covering it pooling on the ground... and a very panicked Loki that seemed to be _inside_ said mirror.

She lost the ability to do anything but stare in horror for a moment... Before quickly rushing over and tapping the glass. "Loki? Are you—I don't know! Ok? Can you hear me? What happened? What should I do? What—" she trailed off.

Loki's original panic was wearing off, and instead, now he just looked horrified, with a little bit of kicked-puppy mixed in. He shook his head, which confused Jane. "Loki, what—" Right then, _his_ lips started moving like he was talking, but Jane couldn't hear anything. Her heart sunk as she figured it out. "I can't hear you, and you can't hear me." Though Loki clearly couldn't understand her words, apparently her expression got her message across, and Loki deflated.

They were trapped on opposite sides of the mirror. Loki's side was a closet sized box with the mirror like a window to reality. Jane was in reality, and could only see Loki through the glass.

After hitting her fists on the glass till they were bleeding—ignoring Loki's silent but obvious orders for her to stop, and eventual begs for her to stop—, Jane sunk down to the floor, her back against the mirror for support. Loki took up the same position on his side of the mirror.

It was quite apparent to her that Loki had given up, and Jane was out of ideas.

Instead of trying to think of ways out, Loki was pondering why it had bothered him _so much_ to see Jane injuring herself like that to help him. And it really had. There had been a knot in his stomach that became more and more unbearably tight every time she struck the magic-enhanced glass and wounded herself. He didn't care about the mortal astrophysicist—did he?

Meanwhile, Jane tried to think of how he had gotten into the mirror. He pulled off the drape... Then what? He just got sucked in? She could try putting the drape back and pulling it off again. Maybe repeating the events that put him in there would get him out.

Hopeful, Jane stood up and tried to put the drape back on. It was difficult because of her height, but she managed. She then had to pause and catch her breath, before pulling it off.

Inside the mirror, Loki was panicking. Without the window to reality, he was trapped in a small, pitch black box. His breath began to come out in ragged gasps as memories of his time with Thanos flooded his mind. He pressed his back against a wall and tried to keep the tears of fear from running down his cheeks. He would like people to believe he was, but Loki was not fearless. His time with Thanos had ingrained in him a deep fear of places like this. His heart rate rose and he began to hyperventilate—

And then Jane pulled the drape down. Light flooded the little box—and all of the sudden, Jane was literally sitting on top of him. Both were speechless for several moments.

"Oops."

"Oops? What do you mean—"

"I was trying to redo what you did when you got sucked in here. I thought that might bring you out. It never occurred to me it might bring me in."

Loki groaned. Jane glared at him. Then, she noticed the tracks of the few tears he hadn't been able to suppress. "Are you okay?" she asked, a hint of worry in her tone.

"Yes," he said, instantly moving so that she fell off his lap and onto the floor as he wiped at his face with his sleeve. "I am simply—not fond of small dark confines."

She winced, recalling some awkward conversations she'd had with Loki and others in the past about Loki's treatment by Thanos. "Sorry. I should've given you some kind of warning," she apologized.

He shook his head. "It is fine. You are not at fault."

After that, they sat in silence for at least half an hour. Eventually, Jane broke it. "This feels like some twisted version of seven minutes of heaven."

Glancing at Loki, she decided that that had been the wrong thing to say. "Yes... We are practically locked in a closet."

With a suspicious glare, she demanded, "And just what do you mean by that?"

His smirk told her she shouldn't have asked that either.

In less time than should have been possible, he had pinned her to a wall and chastely kissed her lips. She gasped as her brain caught up and she realized he had her wrists pinned the wall, his very pleasantly cool body pressed against hers, and had just kissed her.

"Wha—" The lack of personal space was making coherent thought rather difficult.

"We're trapped in a closet," he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling it. "And you broke up with my brother, making you currently single. I'm going to take advantage of that fact."

About four hours later, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents finally noticed the smashed anti-magic-barrier-making thing while patrolling. Reinforcements were called in, and when the telescope was found outside of the mirror that should have been draped...

The unlucky agent who happened to look through the mirror was mentally scarred by the image of Loki Laufeyson and Jane Foster asleep together. Fortunately for him they hadn't done more than make out for a few hours... But just the fact that Loki Laufeyson and Jane Foster were trapped in a mirror and had very clearly been making out for a few hours was definitely enough to scar the poor man.

After making a few calls to determine what should be done with the odd couple who had mysteriously disappeared from a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility hours before while testing a teleportation advice—"Should we bring in a hazmat team? SWAT?" "What should we do if they sue, Sir? Are there even laws pertaining to this... series of events?" "How am I supposed to know?! I wasn't trained for this!"—, the agents were ordered to free the couple from the mirror.

Using a special tool that had been invented when S.H.I.E.L.D. first found the mirror, the two were extracted from it. The agents had been planning to bring them to Fury for questioning, but that didn't quite happen. Loki woke up the moment they were pulled into reality. He held the still asleep Jane with one arm, picked up the telescope with the other, smirked mischievously at the several dozen agents, and teleported away before anyone could so much as speak.

 

And that is how a very, very strange and unfortunate coincidence ended with Loki Laufeyson and Jane Foster finally realizing that they had fallen for each other.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my second ever attempt at romance, so I hope it turned out better than I think it did. It was beta'd! So someone thought it was okay! Yay!  
> I personally think that Loki may have liked Jane a bit before this incident--seeing as he teleported them away from the warehouse at the end and not the beginning. He was clearly capable.  
> And I can't stop imagining angst stories based off of Loki with his very unique PTSD trapped in the mirror.... You might end up with one eventually.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! God bless!


End file.
